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Bulls 121, Bucks 127: Matas Buzelis’ efficient scoring continues in preseason loss

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Chicago Bulls C Nikola Vucevic

The Chicago Bulls wrap up their third preseason game with a 127-121 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Josh Giddey continues to put up big numbers, with 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but it was Matas Buzelis, who led startings in scoring with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting. His efficiency continues to impress, earning five trips to the free-throw line. In addition to the individual strides he’s already made, his scoring becomes even more important to the Bulls with Coby White in the lineup.

As a group, the Bulls did well to limit turnovers, which have plagued them so far in the preseason. However, they shot just 11-of-41 from three-point land, while the Bucks went 20-of-48, proving to be a 27-point gap.

Next up: Bulls head to Denver to face the Nuggets on Tuesday.

Tune into the CHGO Bulls Live Post-Game Show:

In one of the best seasons of his career, Nikola Vucevic thrived due to his somewhat surprising fit in the uptempo offense. Trailing the play and strolling into catch-and-shoot threes, attacking closeouts and leveraging his high basketball IQ into assist opportunities, Vucevic was one of the Bulls’ best and most consistent players in 2024-25.

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After taking a rest game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, Vucevic was back against the Bucks. In 24 minutes, he had just six points on 3-of-10 shooting and missed all four of his three-point attempts. It’s just (half) one game, but Vucevic’s shot-making was critical for the Bulls to open up the floor and allow their offense to flow. — Will Gottlieb

Slow starts were a problem for the Bulls last season. They finished the season with an overall net rating of -1.6. But in their first quarters, they had a net rating of -3.6. It provided Bulls fans with some fun comeback wins, but it’s not exactly an ideal formula to rely on double-digit comebacks every night.

Through their first three preseason games, the Bulls have been outscored 51-23 before the first timeout of the first quarter. In the two games against Cleveland, turnovers were a big part of that: nine first-quarter turnovers in Game 1, and 7 more in Game 2. The Bulls were cleaner with the ball out of the gate against the Bucks, but still dug themselves a hole with missed shots and poor defense.

Perhaps getting White back in the starting lineup will help the Bulls get off to better starts. But it’s an unsettling continuation of a bad trend from last season. One that seemed to be consistent regardless of who was in the starting five. — Matt Peck

Getting closer to regular-season Bulls basketball and I couldn’t be more excited.

The 1st quarter was more of the same as far as the preseason is concerned. Bulls starters get off to a sluggish start, bench comes in to right the ship, and Dosunmu continues to shine.

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I’m happy to see Lee Patrick (Patrick Williams) playing better CONSISTENTLY in this preseason. He’s been active. Scoring inside and outside CONSISTENTLY, being physical CONSISTENTLY and being a presence overall on the floor. CONSISTENTLY. It’s good to see that from him. CONSISTENTLY.

(Did I mention how I want Lee Patrick to continue to be CONSISTENT? I did? Cool.)

This was Giddey’s best game of the preseason. He had more command of the offense and wasn’t forcing things. Didn’t have the bawl a ton, which allowed him to float and dive to the bucket more. When he did get the bawl, his facilitation was on point, which also led to better scoring from him. Nice to see him do his thing.

The bench play has been my favorite thing about the preseason. I cannot say enough about how good Dosunmu has been. Just outstanding. — Big Dave

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